AAF Medium Airlift
The AAF’s medium airlift capability was expected to reach its full fleet size of 20 C-27A/G222 aircraft in the spring of 2012 with the final five deliveries from Alenia North America. Efforts to improve the daily operational availability of these aircraft had been initiated, and improvements in C-27A maintenance performance and maintenance training were underway.
The July 2013 progress report noted that the C-27A had been removed from AAF inventory in favor of C-130Hs, which were expected to be introduced in third quarter of FY13. This was largely a product of the USAF decision to remove the C-27J aircraft from its inventory, which would make it difficult if not impossible to support AAF C-27A aircraft in the future. Reports also suggested that AAF C-27A were already largely maintained by contractors and that service rendered by those companies had been poor. The C-130H aircraft would provide an initial capability to do inter-theater lift that was expected to take several years to mature. The first Afghan C-130 pilots began training in the US in May 2013. With the removal of the C-27A from service, the AAF had to rely on the Cessna C-208 for fixed wing airlift capability. The NATO Training Mission Afghanistan had accepted delivery of the final 8 C-208s at Shindand and Kandahar Airbases in December 2012, bringing the total number of C-208s to 26.
In January 2013, the DOD Inspector General (DODIG) reported that the G222 Project Management Office (PMO) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Training Mission–Afghanistan / Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (NTM-A/CSTC-A) did not properly manage the effort to obtain the spare parts needed to keep the aircraft flightworthy. Despite spending $486.1 million on the program, DODIG reported that the aircraft flew only 234 of the 4,500 required hours from January through September 2012. The DODIG also concluded that an additional $200 million in Afghanistan Security Forces Funds might have to be spent on spare parts for the aircraft to meet operational requirements, noting that several critical spare parts for the aircraft were unavailable.
The G222 program apparently ended in March 2013 after experiencing continuous and severe operational difficulties, including a lack of spare parts. The United States' watchdog for Afghanistan spending sought answers from the Defense Department after the Pentagon purchased 20 Italian-made G222 aircraft for $486 million for the Afghan Air Force and 16 were sold as scrap metal for a total of $32,000. The Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction released two letters on 09 October 2014, one asking about the destruction of the 16 aircraft and the other asking about the status of the remaining four, stored at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. The aircraft could not meet operational requirements in Afghanistan after serious performance and maintenance issues and the program was grounded in March 2013.
The C-130 tactical transport aircraft provides a medium-airlift capability in support of personnel and equipment transport, CASEVAC, and human remains return capabilities. The fourth and final C-130 aircraft was delivered on June 20, 2015. During the 2015 fighting season, AAF C-130s flew nearly 80 percent more missions than they did during the 2014 fighting season. Additionally, the C-130 fleet is sized to meet the ANDSF’s quick reaction force response requirements such that AAF C-130s can move an infantry company and equipment within 24 hours notification.
With a limited number of qualified aircrew members, TAAC-Air and the AAF are working aggressively to accelerate the growth of flight engineers and loadmasters through in-country training. Given the number of pilots at various stages of the training pipeline, crew manning levels were expected to improve significantly in early 2016.
By 2018 AAF C-130Hs assigned to the Kabul Air Wing conduct operations throughout Afghanistan to locations with improved airfields. AAF C-130Hs provide a strategic airlift capability for large passenger movements and CASEVAC operations. In addition, C-130Hs transport cargo too large or unsuitable for the C-208 or Mi-17 aircraft, such as maintenance equipment and parts and weapons and munitions. Small fleet size and aircraft availability limited C-130H operations. Two of the four AAF C-130Hs were in out-of-county depot during 2018; however, one aircraft returned to Afghanistan by early June 2018, ahead of the originally estimated July 2018 delivery date. Despite this limitation, TAAC-Air trained six pilots in assault landings and night-vision goggle (NVG) enroute operations. The AAF relied on a DoD CLS contract for C-130H logistics and maintenance.
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